Our Values

It’s great to know that you are interested in working with us at Coventry City Council. As a prospective employee, it is important that everyone who works for us is committed to our One Coventry values and shares our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation. 

Our Values are:

About the team we are recruiting to

Customer Services is one of the largest departments in Coventry City Council and are the front face of the organisation.  We are usually the first port of call for customer enquiries across the council.  Our fast-paced telephone teams deal with thousands of calls and emails a week, we have a dynamic Customer Service Centre with around 2500 visitors a week approaching us for a wide range of enquiries from paying their council tax to seeking help to access services and dedicated support teams who process bookings, timesheets and general administration work for the whole organisation.

You may be based in one of several locations, we have a Customer Service Centre right in the heart of the city; Friargate – a large purpose built office by the train station along with several reception points across the city.

Joining Customer Services is a really good stepping stone into a long term career with the Council, depending on the role you are offered you will learn about other parts of the organisation

We want every single customer to have a positive experience when approaching the council and would welcome you being part of the team.

What is the job role?

Low income Family Tracker (LIFT) Project  - Welfare Benefits Adviser, Full time, Fixed Term Contract until 24/4/2023

Are you passionate about people and do you really want to make a positive contribution to helping people in the local community?

Do if you have excellent people and communication skills along with some benefits experience?

If the answer to those questions is yes …. then you might be just who we are looking for.

In response to the pandemic Customer Services established a team to handle requests for assistance, people contacted us for all sorts of things – from needing help with food and medicine to dog walking.  The service has evolved, and the team now spend more time understanding people’s circumstances and carrying out research to find solutions that will help them to address the challenges that they face.

We are looking to expand on the success of this team with a pilot initiative where we identify and contact to low income families to understand whether they could be supported to apply for additional benefits and to prevent homelessness.

Duties will include:

• Pro-active outbound contacting of families identified as on a low-income or at risk of crisis to discuss welfare benefits and possible avenues of support.  Assisting with applications and appeals
• Using the benefit and budget calculator to support families to claim benefits that they may be entitled to
• Using the LIFT dashboard to target support to people who need it most now and uncover hidden pockets of poverty. Identify families who are struggling and who may never have engaged with is before.
• Responding to people and their specific circumstances, gaining their trust and understanding when issues may be deeper than the original request, so you’ll need to have excellent communication and problem-solving skills
• Using your network of contacts both within the Council and across the voluntary network to assist with enquiries and identify opportunities to help people

There will be times when you’ll need the ability to deliver difficult messages and manage expectations, while we try our best there aren’t always straight forward solutions to the challenges that people face. Resilience is important in this equally challenging and rewarding role.

This is an initial pilot, we want the post holders to help us to explore what might be possible in this area of work and keep the records necessary to inform potential other projects. The role is initially for a fixed term period, to be reviewed in line with business needs.

If you would like to find out more about the role or have any questions, please approach Nicole Lane 02476 977524 during office hours.

Closing date for applications is 3rd August, with assessments to take place shortly afterwards. Assessments will consist of an interview and knowledge test. 

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Who are we looking for?

• Care about delivering an excellent service to every internal and external customer
• Excellent communication skills, confident in face to face, telephone and written activity
• Ability to support a diverse customer base
• Ability to deliver in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to respond to change positively
• To Be Flexible to the needs of the service
• Good IT skills
• An understanding of the range of services provided by the council.

For full details on the application process please read the attached document labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

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About Coventry

Coventry is a lively, multicultural city, which embraces old and new. Around the modern city centre there are traces of history everywhere – in the old city walls, the timber-framed buildings and the reconstructed medieval Spon Street. But Coventry has always had an eye on the future, and is now firmly focused on regenerating and re-inventing itself to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. With major developments and new projects taking place right across the city, Coventry City Council is the place to be!

There's a huge buzz about the city – Coventry ranks as the 8th best city to live, work and do business in the UK, and it was the UK City of Culture 2021. We believe this will help put Coventry on the map for all the right reasons as you can feel the sense of local pride throughout the city. It also offers a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to those joining us to play their part in it.

We genuinely believe that Coventry City Council is a special place. You will be joining Coventry City Council during an exciting time to become part of a team that contribute to achieving our visions for the city. We have made our council a place where we look after our people, making sure you're happy in your work and given everything you need to succeed. We've created friendly, welcoming workplaces where everyone is working towards the same cause, providing the best possible services for the city of Coventry.

As a council with improvement at its heart, we’re committed to making life better for the people who live and work in Coventry. We’re equally concerned with the quality of life enjoyed by our people, so by joining us, you won’t just be helping the community, you’ll be helping yourself too.

Not only do you get to work alongside great people that are helping to improve services for our community we offer great benefits too! For your valued contribution we will provide a fantastic benefits package including;

• Flexible working arrangements
• Generous annual leave allowance starting at 27 days and rising to 32 days
• Opportunity for Salary Match and Pay progression through multiple increments
• Outstanding local government pension scheme
• Learning & Development with access to certified courses.
• Access to an award winning Occupational Health Team
• Vibrant employee networks 
• Lifestyle savings
• Salary Sacrifice Schemes; Car Scheme, Cycle to work and more
• Interest free travel loans
• Payroll giving scheme
• Workplace parking scheme
• Maternity, paternity and adoption Leave
• And much more

Coventry City Council